Chicago Tribune - Tears, determination in grieving Ohio city

Monday, August 8, 2005

(Chicago Tribune)Tears, determination in grieving Ohio
cityThe Iraq war's deadly toll ripples across
Columbus, home to a Marine company that lost 9
this week. Here, even the mayor's son is on the
front lines.
By Michael Martinez, Tribune national
correspondent.
Published August 5, 2005
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Not even Mayor Michael
Coleman is beyond the scare of Ohio's growing
Marine losses in Iraq. But he was breathing
easier Thursday because his son, a Marine in
Iraq, was not among the six killed Monday and
14 more on Wednesday.
The mayor's son, John David "J.D." Coleman, is
a member of a reserve company based in Columbus
whose staggering casualties put it in the
national eye in May and again this week.
Lima Company has borne the brunt of weeklong
losses to Ohio's 3rd Battalion of the 25th
Marine Regiment, a reserve unit sent in March
to a remote post in Haditha, Iraq, that has
since proved to be one of the deadliest
assignments in the war.
The solidly Midwestern company has seen losses
large and small: eight killed during battles in
May, one later that month, two last week, and
now nine in Wednesday's roadside bomb explosion
that destroyed a 23-ton amphibious assault
vehicle. Five other Marines also died in that
bombing. Suddenly, Lima Company, whose men
range from teenage privates to thirtysomething
commanders, has become one of the nation's most
discussed and most tragic military units for
its large losses in combat.
A prominent role
"Lima Company has assumed a prominent role in
our country for being on the front line [of]
battle in Iraq. They've got a national
reputation of being the top fighters in the
country right now," the mayor said.
The losses, however, clearly were taking their
toll on Marine reservists at Lima Company
headquarters Thursday.
One reservist in civilian clothes was in tears
as he left an auditorium meeting, and an older
Marine advised him to wipe away his tears and
collect himself before he walked out of the
building, where a few reporters were gathered.
"You ought to stay here before you go out," the
the younger man was told.
Some Marines appeared tense.
"Well, emotions are running kind of high right
now," said Capt. Chris Logan, 31, a media
officer with the Marine Forces Reserve who was
flown into Columbus to assist Lima Company this
week.
"When something like this happens, it's
devastating," Logan said. "From the reservists'
side, you'll see a more dramatic impact on a
community," he said.
The sacrifices are unifying the state's capital
city.
It's not uncommon to see residents wearing Lima
Company T-shirts on the street, the mayor
said.
A fall welcome
Meanwhile, relatives of Marines are pushing the
city to hold an old-fashioned homecoming for
the company, as well as other battalion
members, when the reservists' tour of duty ends
in late September or early October.
"Hopefully, when we bring the guys back, we can
have some sort of heroes' welcome for them,"
said Donna Bell, who was wearing a Lima Company
T-shirt outside company headquarters at the
Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base southeast
of Columbus.
Her son, Jonathan, 23, is a lance corporal and
an infantryman in Lima Company, and she and her
daughter, Julie, 24, had just placed red roses
at the front entrance sign to honor the nine
members killed this week as well as to mark
three other deaths of company personnel.
While parents like Bell and the mayor were
relieved that their sons were spared from this
week's bloodshed, they say that Marine families
have a tight-knit communications network using
phones and e-mail in which all empathize with
the grieving families.
Among those grieving Thursday was another
family named Bell. A Marine killed Wednesday
was Lance Cpl. Timothy Michael Bell Jr., 22, of
West Chester, Ohio, who was a judo and
motorcycle enthusiast.
"My son was the last of the John Waynes, but
tougher," said his father, Timothy Michael Bell
Sr.
The son told his parents why he wanted to
become a Marine as they all traveled to
Columbus for his activation in January.
"He just said, `This is what I was born to
do,"' said his stepmother, Vivian Bell.
Yet another Lima Company member who died was
Lance Cpl. Michael Cifuentes, 25, of Oxford,
Ohio. He had graduated from Miami University in
2002 with a degree in psychology and was
thinking of becoming a teacher after he earned
a master's degree in math, school officials
said.
Planning to re-enlist
Lance Cpl. Brett Wightman, 22, who also was
killed, wanted to make the Marines his life's
work and was planning to re-enlist in October,
relatives said.
"He said, `People are upset because we're over
here fighting,"' recalled his aunt, Missy
Luttrell. "But he said, `We just rescued some
children from this house. And if you could have
seen the looks on their faces and how glad they
were to see us, it made it all worthwhile.' So
he believed in what he was doing."
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mjmartinez@tribune.com